navigation

28/03/2015

26 things people from Selby will understand and remember

Selby - a sometimes sleepy little market town 15 miles south of York. The town that everyone loves to hate and that everyone wants to leave, but never does. What springs to mind when you think of Selby? The Abbey? The three swans tale? The history? Nah!

Here are 25 things that only people from Selby will understand and remember:

1. The sheer delight when Doubtfires is back outside Wetherells every day.

2. And the heartbreak when you miss the van as it passes your house on a Sunday afternoon.

3. Everyone once went to Selby Fun Day armed with alcohol thinking they were at a mini Leeds Fest.

4. Saturdays and Sundays used to always be about tackling the inflatable obstacle course across Abbey Leisure Centre's pool.

5. Anyone who was anyone went to the Roller Disco on a Friday night.

6. The mad rush to get to Brayton Barff before anyone else as soon as it snows.

7. Going to 'Wick-Kid' at the leisure centre in the school holidays and it being anything but 'wicked'.

8. The excitement when McDonald's and Frankie & Benny's finally opened in Selby.

9. Going to Selby bonfire because the fireworks are always amazing.

10. The wooden nativity scene in the glass box making an appearance every year without fail.

11. Heading to Le Raj weighed down with alcohol of all varieties to make the absolute most of the 'bring your own booze' rule - because everyone does Jaeger bombs with a curry, right?

12. Vowing never to ever end your night in Kans but finding yourself there at the end of the night as they switch the lights on.

13. Being able to go anywhere in the country/continent/world and somehow stumbling across someone from Selby.

14. Pretty much everyone, at some point in their Selby life, has had the pleasure of having their photo taken by the famous Eric Foster.

15. The pain of having to get the 415 to York.

16. And the excruciating last bus back on a Friday/Saturday night.

17. Almost everyone has worked at the outlet at some point.

18. And almost everyone hated it.

19. Everyone had a birthday party at the leisure centre with a bouncy castle and a dinner of chicken nuggets and chips.

20. Then as you grew up you progressed to a disco in the bar area with a buffet.

21. Getting stuck at the train gates near Brayton canal bridge and knowing you'll be sat there for ages.

22. The annoyance of people not pronouncing places right (Gowthorpe and Hemingbrough being just two examples)

23. Not daring to stand in the little pool of water at the top of the slide at the old leisure centre because 'everyone weed in it'.

24. Getting to go to Ryedale with school was the equivalent of being selected for the Olympics.

25. The infamous Thursday night 'student nights' in town where VKs were the answer to any question.

26. Slagging off Selby to high heaven but not letting anyone from outside the town say a bad word about it.